By now, you’ve probably noticed the trend towards white walls in interiors these days. Especially in the homes of bloggers, eh? But this Scandinavian influence is certainly nothing new. American mid-century homes often used this clean style as a backdrop for simple furniture and bright artwork and textiles. I’m kind of missing the white walls of our apartment, so we’ve been considering brightening up a space or two in our home with a coat of white on the walls. I really love balancing whites with warm neutrals and bold colors, and these vintage homes have done just that. Too bad Phil wouldn’t agree to purple carpet!

Beware of watching White Christmas too many times! It might lead you to staying awake at night planning your own version of the beautiful ski lodge in the movie. Ever since I first saw that movie as a little girl, I’ve dreamed of a wide-open mid century style home complete with a sunken living room, built-in seating areas (a la Frank Lloyd Wright), and a grand fireplace to anchor it all.

When I was in design school, I had the opportunity to design my dream home (with certain parameters, like square footage), and funny enough, it kind of resembled the home pictures above. Phil and I just bought our first home almost exactly a year ago, and who knows if or when we will ever move, but for some reason, I can’t stop thinking about my dream home design and floorplan! As in, it actually keeps me up at night. Who knows? Maybe some day I will have the opportunity to design my own home! What about you? What would you want in your dream home? My biggest wish would be for a beautiful wide-open living, dining, and kitchen area. An entertainer’s dream!

The 1970s gets a bad rap for interiors. Mention a shag rug in this decade and you get lots of cringes from those who lived through the original shag and all its glory. I’ll admit, there were a lot of crimes against design to happen in the 1970s. Too much macrame and wood paneling are enough to warrant a bad reputation for a whole decade. But sometimes the ’70s did funk and did it gloriously. Just check out these interiors! I’m thinking about borrowing some ideas for my own home. And I’m really digging the warm colors in these homes. Perfect inspiration for this time of year!

For some extra color scheme inspiration, check out past featured vintage homes here. The images from this post were found via Flickr and are linked back to their Flickr source.